1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for the protection or preservation of a baled ruminant forage material, such as baled hay which is intended to be utilized as a cattle feed, through injection with a liquid preservative and, more particularly, relates to a novel and unique method for the injection of pressurized liquid preservatives such as anhydrous ammonia or proprionic acid, into the baled ruminant forage material. Moreover, the invention contemplates the provision of a novel apparatus for effecting the injection of a pressured liquid preservative into a baled ruminant forage material through the intermediary of the inventive method.
Pursuant to another concept of the invention, the novel method and apparatus for the injection of pressurized liquid preservatives, such as anhydrous ammonia, is adapted to be employed for the treatment and protection of soil, particularly on sod farms, or turf farms utilized for the cultivation of grass for golf courses and the like.
The treatment or protection of a ruminant forage material with a liquid or gaseous preservative, such as anhydrous ammonia or proprionic acid, is extensively employed in agriculture, and is of particular use in the cattle feed industry. Basically, the utilization of anhydrous ammonia in a liquid or gaseous form is widely known as constituting a ruminant forage nutrient or protein additive, as well as forming a preservative, particularly for hay or similar types of cattle feed. In addition to the use of anhydrous ammonia, proprionic acid employed alone or in mixture with other organic acids has also been tested and found widespread applications as a forage preservative. In the treatment or protection of ruminant forage material, such as hay, considerable problems have been encountered in the correct and non-hazardous application of these preservatives. Thus, anhydrous ammonia and proprionic acid are extremely volatile in nature to thereby present hazards with regard to spontaneous combustion and, moreover, quickly dissipate into the atmosphere so as to resultingly lose a considerable degree of their effectiveness prior to their interaction with the forage material. This high level of volatility causes problems which are encountered during the application of the preservatives to the ruminant forage material and necessitates special measures to be taken in the development of products and apparatuses which will enable the preservatives to be dispersed in the forages, thereby considerably increasing capital outlays. In addition thereto, the preservatives are extremely corrosive to machinery, thereby appreciably increasing the cost of the machinery employed since the latter will rapidly depreciate during use.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Muller U.S. Pat. No. 1,196,138 discloses a process of impregnating a forage material, such as baled alfalfa hay, with molasses for the purpose of treating one substance with another material, thereby producing an edible substance while enhancing the nutritional value of the product which is generally employed as a ruminant forage material. The baled forage material is subjected to penetration by an injecting needle, and a suitable additive, such as molasses, is pumped into the bale of hay through the action of compressed air, with the bale concurrently being heated by means of steam in order to enhance the degree of dispersion of the molasses within the baled hay.
Manning U.S. Pat. No. 1,928,903 discloses an apparatus for treating a food stuff, such as a mass of grain which is contained within an upright container or silo, and wherein an elongated tubular member extends downwardly into the silo and, under a predetermined pressure head, is adapted to pump an additive, such as air having disinfectant entrained therein, into the mass of grain in order to retard spoilage of the stored grain material. The disinfectant may be a liquid such as carbon bisulfide and tetrachloride, which is admixed with air to provide a spray adapted to penetrate into and permeate the grain stored in the upright container or silo.
Millar U.S. Pat. No. 2,293,845 discloses the admixing of a ruminant feedstock, such as sugar-beet pulp and silage, with a material such as anhydrous ammonia in order to convert the nitrogen contained in the feedstock into useable protein so as to thereby enhance the nutrient level of the ruminant feed material.
Zick U.S. Pat. No. 2,789,906 discloses the treatment of an agricultural roughage material, such as cattle feed in the form of hay or the like, with anhydrous ammonia under vacuum or subatmospheric pressure conditions within a closed reacting chamber to thereby cause the generally gaseous ammonia to disperse throughout the roughage material. This prior art concept envisions placing the roughage, or ruminant forage material or cattle feed, into a closed or sealed chamber, imparting a vacuum to the interior of the chamber, and then injecting gaseous ammonia to propagate the required impregnation and resultant ammoniation of the cattle feed material.
Ulrey U.S. Pat. No. 3,259,501 discloses the treating of rice hulls with a gaseous nitrogen compound under superatmospheric pressure and at elevated temperature conditions in order to impart a softer texture and an increase in the content of nitrogen to the original rice hulls, thereby rendering the processed rice hulls more adaptable for use as a livestock feed, fertilizer and the like.
Lagerstrom et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,780 discloses a process and apparatus for the alkali-treatment of a lignocellulosic forage material, such as hay which is utilized as a ruminant forage material, in which baled hay is enclosed within a container, is then subjected to a spray of a base and subsequently neutralized with an acid. After the lignocellulosic ruminant forage material is completely impregnated for a period extending over a number of hours, the liquid is allowed to drain from the forage material, and the impregnated bales of straw or hay are then removed to storage.
Johanning et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,321,278 discloses the treatment of a ruminant animal feedstuff, which has relatively low crude protein content, by subjecting the material to chlorination, and thereafter treating the chlorinated feedstuff with ammoniation, such as subjecting the feedstuff to a flow of anhydrous ammonia or the like.
Other apparatuses and processes employed in the treatment of ruminant forage material for either enhancing the protein content thereof, or to act as a preservative in order to inhibit the formation of rot and mildew, are disclosed in Skov et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,899,588; Sebald U.S. Pat. No. 1,516,314; Harper U.S. Pat. No. 2,843,534; Bonnel U.S. Pat. No. 2,810,649; and Henkle U.S. Pat. No. 2,004,001.
Although all of the above described or referenced U.S. patents relate to the treatment of cattle feed or ruminant forage material with a suitable liquid or gas which is adapted to either enhance the nutrient or protein value of the material, or to constitute a preservative which will inhibit the formation of rot and mildew, there is no disclosure of a simple and novel method and apparatus for injecting a liquid preservative into a baled ruminant forage material analogous to that described and claimed by the present applicants.
More recently, apparatus has been developed for injecting liquid anhydrous ammonia and/or proprionic acid into a ruminant forage material, such as hay which is in the stages of being formed into bales. Thus, as the windrowed hay is being conveyed by an auger into a baler, a plurality of ejector needles are intermittently advanced into the hay in timed sequence with the formation of the segments of the hay bale, and pressurized liquid anhydrous ammonia or any other suitable liquid hay preservative is injected from a suitable supply source through the discharge orifices of the injector needles into the hay. The injection of the pressurized stream of the liquid preservative will cause the latter to disperse in the form of a spray within the hay so as to provide for the rapid vaporization of the preservative. However, the requirement for continuous and timed reciprocation of the injector needles while injecting jets of pressurized liquid anhydrous ammonia into the hay as the latter is being baled, requires precise mechanical correlation in advancing the needles into the hay and retracting the latter with the intermittent bale-forming steps, of the baler, thereby considerably increasing expenditures in the need for complicated machinery and timing devices which will coordinate the advance and retraction of the liquid preservative injector needles with the various baling steps of the hay baling apparatus. Moreover, the necessity for the systematic advance and retraction of a plurality of injector needles into the hay as the latter is being baled, in which probes or injector needles must each be connected to an associated flexible hose and operating solenoids, and wherein the complex of injector needles and related hardware must be functionally cycled to provide for an injection of liquid preservative which is synchronized with each stroke of the baler, approximately eight to ten times for the formation of each bale, is subject to frequent breakdowns of the injection system. The complexity of present day liquid preservative injection systems and methods, necessitating the employment of complicated apparatus and reciprocating injector needles, and their tendency towards mechanical breakdowns and operational failures, result in time consuming and costly work stoppages in the baling of the ruminant forage material.
Moreover, quite frequently, the liquid preservative injection systems are mounted on the undercarriage of the hay baler so as to be normally hidden from the view of the baler operator. Consequently, inasmuch as the operator cannot see the apparatus, breakdowns of the injection system may be undetected so as to create a potentially hazardous, and in any event, undesirable operating condition. The hazard which is created in response to any breakdown of the equipment lies in that the injection of the liquid preservative, such as anhydrous ammonia, permits the operator to bale the hay at high moisture levels; thus, if the injection system fails to inject the correct amount of liquid anhydrous ammonia, this can readily lead to a fire hazard or mold-damaged hay.